Tag: toddler

So I apologise for the radio silence lately but I do have a very good reason, my beautiful baby is here!

I’ve spent the last week taking in family life as a mum of two, snuggling my newborn and enjoying the time with my husband before he had to return to work after his week of paternity leave.

I’ve written my birth story whilst it’s all still fresh in my mind, my labour with my first is a bit hazy these days so I wanted to remember it the best I could. I hope you enjoy!

Friday 9th February
41+5 (12 days overdue)

My induction was booked for 8:30 that morning and we’d arranged childcare for Ethan at Chris’ parents’ house. We dropped him off, said our goodbyes and headed to the hospital via McDonalds for a cheeky breakfast. We parked up and went to the antenatal ward and was met by one of the midwives who looked after me when I was admitted for my possible C-section. She explained that I would be put on the monitor for ½ hour to check baby over and then I would be examined to see how my cervix was looking. After that we would have one of two options, pessary or waters breaking depending on how many centimetres I was dilated. I had an hour on the monitor as they were really busy, everything looked great baby was happy and moving and it even picked up Braxton Hicks contractions. She took me off the monitor and examined me, she also did an unplanned stretch and sweep which I was a bit upset by as I hadn’t consented to it and I had actually declined them due to a bad experience last pregnancy. I managed to get through it and she told me I was a good 2-3cm dilated and she had done a successful one (apparently she has a high success rate at getting people in to labour). We were sent on our way home to get labour going and if there was no luck then to call labour ward the next morning to book in for my waters breaking.

As Ethan was being looked after by his Grandparents we went to go see the new 50 Shades film. I was getting small period style cramps but nothing painful or regular. At 3pm we went to pick Ethan back up and take him home. We spent the rest of the evening chilling as a family, the cramps continued and had a pattern of 5-6 minutes apart but by 8pm they had stopped and we went to bed. I had let my Dad & Stepmum know as they were on call for childcare that night but I honestly thought I would wake up the next morning with nothing.

Saturday 10th February
41+6 (13 days overdue)

I woke at 12:30am with pains, definitely more intense than the night before. I got up to go to the toilet and got back in bed. I timed them on a contraction app on my phone for ½ hour and they were every 3-4 minutes apart. I woke Chris to let him know and we went downstairs for a cup of tea. I expected to be in it for the long haul after my very long labour last time so I wanted to go downstairs where I was close to drinks/snacks and away from Ethan so I didn’t disturb him. The lights went out as our whole street had a power cut but thankfully it was only for a few minutes.

The pains were getting stronger and at 1:30 we called my dad to let him know that he was getting a visitor and Chris took him over. I said my goodbyes to my little boy for the last time as a mum of one and tried to not let him see me in too much pain. I was breathing over my birthing ball until he got home twenty minutes later. We called the hospital to let them know I was in labour, they told me to take two paracetamol and to try a bath. I took the tablets but declined the bath as the thought of water wasn’t appealing to me at all. I was to call them back in an hour when my contractions were around 50 seconds to 1 minute long to update on how I was feeling, or to call sooner if my waters broke. I spent the next hour breathing through the contractions whilst bent over the bed, they were getting really painful at this point and I was getting ready for some stronger pain relief. I got dressed and we called again at 3am. They told me to come in as I was getting ready for some gas and air. That car journey has to be the most uncomfortable car journey I’ve been on, my contractions were every 2.5-3 minutes apart and were lasting 45 seconds to 1 minute each.

We parked up and headed into the maternity hospital and was met by my midwife May who took us to our room. I had a contraction on my way and she told me to take it steady, she also said that by looking at me we weren’t going home as she could tell I was well on my way. I also had a student midwife in the room, it was her first year and she was very new to the hospital environment (turns out I was only the third delivery she had been present at). She brought in a refreshment tray for Chris and some water and Lucozade for me. I was leaning over the bed in the room whilst she said that she had looked over my notes from my last delivery and because of my previous 4th degree tear she was going to take this labour carefully, deliver the baby really slowly and that my chance of tearing a second time to the same extent would be very small. I really appreciated her confidence as it made me feel more at ease. Whilst I got myself into my nightie she said that as I was booked in for an induction I would be monitored in this labour and that she would be breaking my waters for me, both of these were things I hadn’t wanted but in that moment I don’t think I really cared.

At 4am she examined me to see how far along I was, I was only expecting her to say around 4cm dilated. All of a sudden I felt my waters go which May wasn’t ready for and I was met with the news that I was 9cm dilated, before the waters had gone she had guessed I was around 4cm but it was hard to tell as they were bulging so much. She had also said that if I had waited much longer at home, my waters would have gone in the car and I probably wouldn’t have made it to hospital in time. She told the student midwife to get a delivery pack ready, that’s the moment I think I began to panic just a little bit. There was meconium in the waters which we had expected due to how overdue I was. She put me a cannula in just in case it was needed later on and got me the gas and air out. I was laid on the bed and had said I’d wanted to try being on all fours, I tried it but couldn’t get comfortable. They kept losing the trace on the baby so they mentioned putting the clip on baby’s head (I had this last labour with Ethan) but I moved back to being sat on the bed so they didn’t need to do it as they began to pick up again on the monitor.

I was examined again a few times but there was a small lip of cervix that wouldn’t go, then at 5am it went and it was all systems go. I gave up my gas, I was asked to push baby down the birth canal but she reassured me that when it got to crowning I wouldn’t be pushing but breathing. She also used warm compresses on my perineum which was to hopefully prevent another bad tear, I was expecting to tear a little bit. With each contraction baby’s heartrate kept dropping, they gave me some fluids via the cannula as May thought that baby might have been a little dehydrated. I began feeling a huge need to push, it was really intense though, a lot more intense than my labour with Ethan. I must admit I did make some crazy animal noises, I didn’t scream but I could hear myself and I kept apologising for making such noises. May had her hand on the top of baby’s head to hold it back so I didn’t push too quickly. I felt the ‘ring of fire’ which was very stingy, I never felt it with Ethan due to the way he was born. I was told not to push at this point and I felt every part of my baby come out which was an amazing feeling, and at 5:44am our beautiful baby was born.

Chris told me we had a girl and I couldn’t believe it, I cried and said ‘oh my god’ a few times. She was passed straight to me for skin to skin and I was given the injection to help deliver the placenta. We had delayed cord clamping and Chris cut the cord. The placenta took a little while to come and I had to do a few pushes to help it come out. May examined me once the placenta was born to see how badly I had torn and I was ecstatic to find out I had only had a 2nd degree tear and a small labial tear this time. This meant I didn’t need to be taken to theatre to be repaired for 2.5 hours like I did with Ethan, I could stay in the room with my husband and baby whilst it was stitched with local anaesthetic. I passed her to Chris as they gave me the gas and air back whilst they put in the injections and we waited for that to kick in. Once May had started baby was passed back to me to do the first feed which again is something I missed out on in Ethan’s labour, and whilst we were doing this she decided to take her first poo all over my stomach and my chest which was lovely!

Once I had been stitched they ran me a bath and baby was passed back to dad to have some skin to skin which was so great to see. I had a lovely soak in the bath and got cleaned up and once I got out baby was weighed and found to be 8lb 12oz. May caught up on my notes as she hadn’t had a chance to do any as the labour progressed so quickly. My first stage of labour had lasted 4.5 hours and my second stage 44 minutes (A lot faster than my labour with Ethan) and I had lost 450ml of blood. I got some clean pjs on and we said goodbye and Thank You to May as it was time for her to go home. She gave me a big hug and congratulated me again, turns out she’s never had a woman who had a previous 4th degree tear go on to have a vaginal delivery so I was her first. Apparently most women automatically choose C-section which I’m so glad I didn’t do. I honestly couldn’t thank her enough for her support in labour as I needed it, she was truly amazing. A new midwife came in and she did the baby checks, the Vitamin K injection and took some bloods from me. Chris went to move the car as we only had parking until 8am and I called my parents with the news that they had a baby Granddaughter. They brought me some tea and toast (isn’t hospital tea and toast the best thing ever) and Chris came back with a gift bag which contained a beautiful knot necklace to represent our complete family which was gorgeous and I was so very grateful. We were given time to ourselves whilst they sorted all the paperwork to go upstairs with us to the ward, we would need to stay in for the next 12 hours whilst they monitored baby due to the meconium in the waters.

The next few hours went by super quickly, we were up on the postnatal ward and they did baby’s hearing test and observations. The bounty lady also came by to do her photos, I know they are expensive but we had them done with Ethan and they are really special to us so we did indulge in a few photos this time too. I had a jacket potato for my lunch and Chris had a right do trying to find some food as the cafes didn’t seem to cater for weekends. Luckily enough I had packed an emergency pot noodle so he was more than happy with that. We were seen by a midwife on the ward who said she would get all our paperwork ready then so that if baby passed her checks at 6pm we could go straight home. She also gave me my Anti-D injection as I have a rhesus negative blood group. I had the usual discussion on safe sleeping, feeding & contraception. For my dinner I had a pork and apple hotpot which was lush and baby passed all her observations at 6pm and we were allowed to go home! I was also given Dolteparin/Fragmin injections for 6 weeks which I had to do with my first, baby’s red book and then we were on our way.

We came home and my Dad & Stepmum dropped Ethan off so that he could meet his baby sister for the first time, it was lovely to watch and a teeny bit emotional. We then had the family come to meet her the next day. I can’t believe how different this birth was compared to my one with Ethan, his birth will always be special to me as he was my first. But although I would say this birth was a lot scarier, and I mean a lot, it was so much better as I came away with a lot less damage and I think it healed a lot of emotional pain I was still feeling after my first labour. Would I do it all again? Yeah I’m not sure about that.

So here she is my little lady Edith Faith born on 10th February 2018. Our beautiful daughter.

The second week of January has come and gone already and we are getting closer to meeting our new arrival.

We fitted the baby’s car seat in to the car ready for when we bring him/her home from hospital. It seems so weird to have two car seats in the car, we’re actually going to have two children in the back of the car!

This one started Nursery this week. We’ve not been in a financial position to pay for him to go to nursery at any point (my goodness nursery fees are expensive) so we waited until he got his 15 funded hours.

He now goes three days a week (Tues-Thurs) for 5 hours a day, we thought it would work well for us as we still have Monday & Friday free if we want a long weekend away and he’s getting a longer day at nursery with a meal which he wouldn’t normally get if he went for 5 x 3 hour sessions.

He seems to have settled in really well, we get a little sheet of paper at the end of each day to let us know what he’s been doing and he’s been doing a variety of things including Sand Play, Outdoor Play & Construction. He’s also eating his meals which is great to hear.

Today though hasn’t been a great end to the week. We were expecting it to be fair though (more details in last weeks post) but here I am finishing my weekly blog post from my hospital room. It’s only the first day so I’m still ok but I can imagine by the end of this week it’s going to be pretty dull.

My dinner was nice though, roast beef & all the trimmings (not bad for hospital dinner). I think I must be the only person I know who actually enjoys hospital food.

I’m sure I’ll have more to update you all on next week, but it may be a boring one if I’m in here. Who knows maybe bump will decide to do a flip over and go head down (we can hope).

How have I spent the first week of January? In a haze of germs and worry. If you follow me over on Instagram then the chances are you already know what’s been going off in my life, but for those who don’t here goes. The picture above was the day before the bad news where hubby took us to Frankie & Benny’s for our dinner and Ethan covered himself in Chocolate Brownie Sundae.

We had our 36 week growth scan this week, I get an extra scan at this time due to my BMI possibly causing a large baby (my first was 8lb 6oz so not huge). We found out that this baby is measuring 6lb 9oz at the moment so he/she is actually measuring smaller than their brother who measured 7lb 5oz at this stage. At my last midwife appointment they had suspected bump would be breech so I was hoping to find out that baby had changed position. It had…but not in the direction we were expecting.

We found out that he/she is now transverse (straight across) and everything became a bit of a blur from there. I went to speak to a consultant who told me that the chances of baby turning now are very minimal so I’ve been booked in for a section before my due date. I’m feeling ok about this now, I was a bit gutted that I wouldn’t get my chance at birth again, but now I know I can focus on being prepared for the section.

They then began mentioning admission to hospital and cord prolapse, not the happy news I was hoping for. Because of baby’s position, if my waters break there’s a good chance the cord can fall through my cervix and become trapped meaning that he/she would be deprived of oxygen and obviously the worst could happen. Therefore they need to admit me to hospital to stay until baby is here.

I had two options, to be admitted there and then on the day (36 weeks) or to stay at home until 38 weeks and go in to hospital then. We discussed this and it was agreed by the doctors too that because I have a 3 year old at home, staying at home would be the better option for me but if my waters break I need to call an ambulance and get in to a position that puts as little pressure on to my cervix as possible. Also the first sign of labour I have to call and head in.

So I’ll be heading into hospital next Sunday (14th January) and I’ll be there until baby is born roughly a week later. I’m worried I’m not going to lie, and I’m going to miss my little boy, but I have the most supportive family who have offered to look after him in the day whilst hubby is at work and then he can bring him to come see me in the evening.

I’ve also been full of a virus this week that the boys had over Christmas (Ethan was ill at Christmas and didn’t want to open his presents or play). It’s just a cold/flu virus so nothing too serious but at nearly 37 weeks pregnant it’s not much fun I’m not going to lie.

I’ve been taking Paracetamol to try and ease it but of course everything else is pretty much banned for pregnant women so I’m just sitting it out and hoping that I don’t go in to labour soon so I’ve got chance to recover from this first. I can’t imagine a cold and a newborn is too much fun.

We’re getting the house ready now for bringing baby home. His/her bedroom has been ready for a while, all we need to do is put the Moses basket in our room when we come home. But I’ve brought the spare Moses basket downstairs, and Ethan seems to have claimed it for his baby. It’s so cute, he comes downstairs in a morning to check on how his baby is doing.

It’s not been the most exciting start to 2018, I’m pretty much restricted to my house and the local shop so that if I go into labour I’m not far away from home. Next week will probably be about the same but hopefully with a few less germs.

So here I am it’s 5:20am on a Sunday morning and whilst I’m supposed to be having a lie in as my husband is entertaining the toddler downstairs, I’m writing a blog post.

Today marks 3 years since I went in to labour with my first born, at 5am (which is strangely enough the time he woke this morning) on the 19th November 2014 I felt my first contraction. It also marks 10 weeks until I’m due to give birth to my second baby. How do I feel about this?

I’ve tried to remain positive this whole pregnancy but small fears are starting to creep in. Let me give you a bit of background info.

When I had my first baby three years ago I was a first time mum not knowing what to expert or how painful labour would be. I had no idea that when I felt that first contraction and got myself all excited triple checking the hospital bag that it would be another three days until I met my bundle of joy. I was in labour for 45.5 hours…sigh.

I had a good labour albeit long, I was happy and off my face on gas and air, and I was actually having a laugh with my husband and my midwife. When I look back now are there things I would change for this labour, yes there are, but I’ll discuss that in another post.

When it came to the birth it was long, I pushed for two and a bit hours and no baby. I had a senior midwife come in to perform an episiotomy (I didn’t need it in the end) and things like heart rate and stress kept getting mentioned, I panicked. I pushed with all my might but I think unfortunately too much might as he came shooting out of me all in one.

He never crowned, I never had that moment of panting whilst the ring of fire happened, he was just born like a rocket. Things are very hazy from this point but doctors came in and anaesthetists came in, I was signing forms and there was talk of tearing and stitches. And off I went.

I held my newborn for 10 minutes and then I was gone for 2 hours. I never got to feed him first, I didn’t get to dress him, didn’t see him getting his newborn checks or his vitamin k injection, I didn’t get that amazing bonding time that is advertised in every pregnancy book across the country.

By the time I came out of theatre I was tired, not Just I’ve been up for 3 days tired but bone tired. My husband and midwife brought my son round to recovery and as I tried to keep my eyes open for some lovely first photos I couldn’t, my body took over and I began to drift. I was taken up to a ward, hubby had to go home and I slept for another 2ish hours.

I lived in a newborn bubble after that, I didn’t worry about what had happened as I had a beautiful family. It’s only now that I’m about to do this all again that the fears are starting to creep in.

My midwife and consultant are great. We’ve discussed what went wrong last time and what we’re going to do differently this time. I’ve been offered a c-section but declined it, I really want to give it a go again and see if I get that perfect time after labour.

But I’ve started to doubt myself, I had a traumatic birth last time there’s no denying that. I had a 4th degree tear and my entire downstairs region was held together with stitches, and there are a number of things that could go wrong this time. What if it all goes wrong again this time?

Every part of me is hoping not, I’m hoping that I can do this, that I can breathe this baby out so as to avoid the risk of tearing again. I’m hoping that if I tear again, it’s a smaller tear that can get stitched in the room so I can still hold my baby and have that precious skin to skin. I’m hoping that I have a shorter labour, and that I don’t have to stop in 3 days after to try and get my iron levels up.

There’s a lot of hope there, and I guess that’s why I’m trying to remain as positive and upbeat about this labour as I can. Who knows what’s going to happen?

I’d love to hear your stories if you’ve been through something similar or are about to try birthing after a severe tear so pop me a line below!

Whenever I look for recipes for Corned Beef Hash they’re always made with Baked Beans and a fried egg on top. Now it doesn’t help that the hubby can’t eat beans but it’s not the version that my mum used to make when we were growing up.

I don’t have her recipe so I don’t know exactly how she makes it but this is my version and it was lovely!

Ingredients:

1 Tin Corned Beef (Diced)

3 Meduim Potatoes (Peeled & Sliced)

3 Medium Carrots (Peeled & Sliced)

200g Frozen Peas

1 Onion (Peeled & Sliced)

1 Tin Oxtail Soup

500ml Beef Stock

Salt & Pepper

Cooking Time:

4 hours on High, 8 hours on Low

Serves 4

Method:

Add half of the carrots, onion & peas to the slow cooker.

Dice the Corned Beef and scatter half of it over the vegetable mix.

Top with half the amount of sliced potatoes. Make sure all the below ingredients are covered. Repeat steps 1-3 with the rest of the vegetables & Corned Beef.

Make up 500ml of Beef stock according to the instructions on the box. Add the tin of oxtail soup and stir.

Pour over stock mixture and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 hours on low or 8 hours on high.

I actually can’t believe we’re at this point already. People always say that your second pregnancy goes faster because you’ve got your little one to keep you occupied and you aren’t just sat for days wondering about what parenting life is like.

I’m 24 weeks pregnant! Well technically I’m 24+4 when I’m writitng this but all the same. I thought I’d give you a little run down on what’s been happening these past few weeks.

Baby is doing well, I’m getting consistent kicks now and really strong ones too. Pip always comes to life around lunchtime and evening time when I’m relaxing in bed, this is usually when you can see my stomach move really well.

I’m starting to have a lot of Braxton Hicks lately, they’re not painful but more uncomfortable and take me by suprise. I don’t remember having them with Ethan at all so it’s totally new to me. When I get them my stomach goes to a point and goes rock hard (which I’m not used to as I do still have a mum tum from my first born).

I’ve had my flu vaccine and I’m booked in for my whooping cough one next week. I haven’t seen the midwife again yet though, I’m not due to see her at 28 weeks so only a few more to go until then.

I have been in at the doctors for a bad vein in my leg though, I’ve got thrombophlebitis! I’ve had varicose veins since having Ethan and one of them started to get rather inflamed and painful so I popped along to have it checked out. The doctor has prescribed me some cream and I’m to go back to see the nurse for a stocking fitting. Apparently I don’t have to wear it all the time just on my rest days so I’m guessing that means when I’m at home in my pjs.

I got my MatB1 form from my health centre too and handed that in at work, I’ve got exactly 9 weeks left as I write this and I’ll be doing my last shift for 9 months. I’ve decided to go off at 34 weeks (well 33+4 will be my last actual shift but maternity starts at 34 weeks) as I know that will be the right time for me. I went at 34 weeks with Ethan (mind you I had anaemia that time) and I’m glad I did. Working in retail is hard especially in the lead up to Christmas, I’ll be leaving for maternity 1 week before Christmas which I’m really happy about.

At least that way I’ll be at home to enjoy my last Christmas as a family of 3 (we’re hosting Christmas dinner this year so it won’t be a relaxing one). And I’ll be at home to take my little man to his first few weeks of nursery, that’s if his nursery gets back to me and lets me know he has a place!

Anyway I think that’s all to update you on for now. I’m sure at my next update (28 weeks) I’ll have plenty more to fill you in on.